haven't made much from this book, but the home-style refried beans are the shiitake as is the yellow rice with garlic! total comfort food. i also enjoy the venezuelan-style black beans.

i'm going to have some friends over for a dinner party in a week and am planning on making the potato-chickpea enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce, cilantro-lime rice, and the hearty warm yuca and cabbage salad. for dessert i'm thinking either the chocolate para churros or the coconut tres leches cake. so excited.

i'm going to have some friends over for a dinner party in a week and am planning on making the potato-chickpea enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce, cilantro-lime rice, and the hearty warm yuca and cabbage salad. for dessert i'm thinking either the chocolate para churros or the coconut tres leches cake. so excited.

Oh, man! Ideally, I'd like to make this for MY Christmas dinner but with the way I have to transport things over to my sister's the day of, it's just not feasible. I'm thinking it will be my New Year's Feast and I usually just stay in on New Year's and cook a nice, special dinner. I've heard great things about that cassaroele. Great things. Also, if you haven't made the cilantro lime rice, it's awesome and that's what I'd make to go with that, too.

I haven't tried the chocolate churros (I'm sure they're great) but I can really vouch for the tres leches cake. I NEED another opportunity to make that soon. It's sooooo good.

i'm going to have some friends over for a dinner party in a week and am planning on making the potato-chickpea enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce, cilantro-lime rice, and the hearty warm yuca and cabbage salad. for dessert i'm thinking either the chocolate para churros or the coconut tres leches cake. so excited.

Oh, man! Ideally, I'd like to make this for MY Christmas dinner but with the way I have to transport things over to my sister's the day of, it's just not feasible. I'm thinking it will be my New Year's Feast and I usually just stay in on New Year's and cook a nice, special dinner. I've heard great things about that cassaroele. Great things. Also, if you haven't made the cilantro lime rice, it's awesome and that's what I'd make to go with that, too.

I haven't tried the chocolate churros (I'm sure they're great) but I can really vouch for the tres leches cake. I NEED another opportunity to make that soon. It's sooooo good.

oh that's cool, sounds like a great new years dinner! my partner is voting for the tres leches cake so that's probably what i'll end up making. i can't wait to try the sopaipillas cuz when i lived in NM i was in love with them! also i worked at a great mexican joint that had amazing churros and i really crave them sometimes!

I just blogged about the last things I made, I haven't cooked from VV since before MoFo, it's killing me. I made the asado with portobellos - BEST MEAL EVER! Plus the spinach avo salad, yum.

Terry wrote:

Anyone making tamales for Xmas, I want to hear about it!In the works: hallacas (Venezuelan) tamales wrapped in banana leaves. I had plans for them in VV! but they didn't pan out at the time, but since 'tis the season I'm on the prowl for frozen banana/plantain leaves.

Ooh, my local grocer sells banana leaves, do you just fold them or try trying them with string? I want Xmas tamales!

haven't made much from this book, but the home-style refried beans are the shiitake as is the yellow rice with garlic! total comfort food. i also enjoy the venezuelan-style black beans.

i'm going to have some friends over for a dinner party in a week and am planning on making the potato-chickpea enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce, cilantro-lime rice, and the hearty warm yuca and cabbage salad. for dessert i'm thinking either the chocolate para churros or the coconut tres leches cake. so excited.

I'd say go for the cake and make it a day in advance, so you can have more party and less dinner-making when it's showtime!

Ah, this is what my dad does with hallacas, using banana leaves instead of the corn husk. But the parchment paper we just can't escape. He usually gives me a bundle of parchment paper whenever I see him, like it's a magical kitchen fix-all for whatever ails ya. For the record I've steamed seitan chorizo in it with decent results.

Creamy Ancho Chile Dressing- My first time using Chiles! Fun to make, made a great interesting dressing with some spice.

Zesty Orange Mojo Baked Tofu- Amazing. I made this for a dinner party and had people ask me what in the world I marinated the tofu in to make it so flavorful.

Yuca with Mojo Sauce- Exactly the recipe I wanted, as I was hoping to replicate the yuca dish I used to get at this Cuban restaurant when I lived in Florida.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Tamales- Perfection! Just a little heat, and they look like halloween inside.

Farmer's Market Tamales- Delicious and easy, but too many capers! I put way less than the recipe called for, and it was still too caper-y..but still delicious.

Empanadas Humitas- Wasn't sure what to expect with these. I was pleasantly surprised to find them to be absolutely delicious. Took them to a potluck where almost all the food was already gone and was not sad at all to eat 4 of these babies for dinner. I will make these again and again.

I can't wait to make some fried empanadas. I'm having trouble finding the non-masa harina corn product, but I'm determined. I've been having such a great time making tamales, though. They are so worth the effort. I cannot believe I didn't have a tamale until this year. I even bought an extra steamer to be able to steam all my tamales at once. Tamales 4eva.

Ok, confession time. The first time I made tamales, I had corn husks that were just too small and they wouldn't roll properly and all the filling kept bursting out as I was rolling and I ended up having a massive tantrum and throwing everything away.

I have tried them again recently (after I wrote the earlier post) and they were really easy. Either my skills are much improved or I was having a bad day last time.

It is still good to know that I can make these with baking paper as corn husks can be pricey here.

Mat.

_________________Lady Gaga and Beyonce should run her over with the kitten Wagon for that one comment alone - Torque (speaking of Katy Perry)

For mexican ingredients in hard to find places I used to love mexgrocer.com. Now I live in an area (DC) full of ethnic groceries of all kinds and am in grocery paradise! But thanks to Terry for finally giving me the kick needed to step into the supermercado. I got some funny looks for being the pale white girl with the cart full of tamale ingredients and latin produce (OMG trays of *de-husked* tomatillos? why was I not informed sooner??), but everything was so awesome and cheap! $60 went a long, long way at the supermercado.

Everything I've made from the cookbook, of course, has been fantastic. Tamales will always be the key to my heart, and those you should probably just drop everything right now to make, but there are plenty of super-quick, easy, wonderful things in there: go try the mango jicama salad! Go try it right now! Guac, garlic rice, horchata...you know what I have not made nearly enough from this.

Ok, confession time. The first time I made tamales, I had corn husks that were just too small and they wouldn't roll properly and all the filling kept bursting out as I was rolling and I ended up having a massive tantrum and throwing everything away.

I have tried them again recently (after I wrote the earlier post) and they were really easy. Either my skills are much improved or I was having a bad day last time.

It is still good to know that I can make these with baking paper as corn husks can be pricey here.

Mat.

Oh ok, I can understand expense as well. Also, I don't know if anyone told you, but you aren't limited to only 1 husk per tamale, you can layer them.

I've never made tamales with banana leaves but they always fascinate me. The market I occasionally buy from sells them in banana leaves.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

Ok, confession time. The first time I made tamales, I had corn husks that were just too small and they wouldn't roll properly and all the filling kept bursting out as I was rolling and I ended up having a massive tantrum and throwing everything away.

I have tried them again recently (after I wrote the earlier post) and they were really easy. Either my skills are much improved or I was having a bad day last time.

It is still good to know that I can make these with baking paper as corn husks can be pricey here.

Mat.

Oh ok, I can understand expense as well. Also, I don't know if anyone told you, but you aren't limited to only 1 husk per tamale, you can layer them.

I worked this out (like an idiot) exactly 10 minutes after having my temper attack and throwing them away!

Mat.

_________________Lady Gaga and Beyonce should run her over with the kitten Wagon for that one comment alone - Torque (speaking of Katy Perry)

I like this book a lot, but I finally figured out what I don't like about the seitan recipe: chickpea flour. Is it me or does this stuff taste strange? I have the Bob's Red Mill kind, and I've used more than one bag before. It tastes like a mix between something like parsley and something inedible like plastic. I figured it out because I just tried VB's tofu omelet and it had that same strange taste in the back of my mouth, then I dipped my finger in the bag of flour and tried that. I'm definitely not using chickpea flour again unless there's another brand out there that actually tastes yummy.

i have a couple of questions about ingredients...1. can i use canned tomatillos for the recipes that call for fresh?2. would it mess up the seitan recipes if i used 2 tsp of oil rather than the 2 tbsp called for?3. in general is it going to mess up recipes if i use way less oil than called for? i have problems with my gallbladder and oil makes it worse.

I like this book a lot, but I finally figured out what I don't like about the seitan recipe: chickpea flour. Is it me or does this stuff taste strange? I have the Bob's Red Mill kind, and I've used more than one bag before. It tastes like a mix between something like parsley and something inedible like plastic. I figured it out because I just tried VB's tofu omelet and it had that same strange taste in the back of my mouth, then I dipped my finger in the bag of flour and tried that. I'm definitely not using chickpea flour again unless there's another brand out there that actually tastes yummy.

Chickpea flour tastes dramatically different raw than when it's cooked. You still may not like it, but don't judge it by how it tastes straight out of the bag.

I remember making some VV seitan a few times this past summer, and I had trouble steaming it, so that may be where my problem lies (I think I had to bake it afterwards). I'm planning on buying a bigger, better pot for steaming. I most certainly did not taste uncooked seitan dough, though, and the resulting meat wasn't doughy or uncooked. Bleugh! But I'll take your word on it and keep my chickpea flour.

I remember making some VV seitan a few times this past summer, and I had trouble steaming it, so that may be where my problem lies (I think I had to bake it afterwards). I'm planning on buying a bigger, better pot for steaming. I most certainly did not taste uncooked seitan dough, though, and the resulting meat wasn't doughy or uncooked. Bleugh! But I'll take your word on it and keep my chickpea flour.

For me the VV seitan is like having finally discovered the perfect seitan recipe. I steam it in the little dinky electric, free-standing steamer I inherited from a crazy anorexic girl a friend used to live with. Turns out great every time. For some reason I get a better consistency from the white version though, Not sure what's up with that. Could it be the absence of tomato paste, all other things being equal.

-the red seitan is softer than the white due to the tomato paste. So yes, you're not imagining things

-Since the seitan is steamed I would suggest keeping the 2 tablespoons of oil. The total servings for the entire recipe is over 8, probably more like 10 depending how it's used, so it's really not much oil.

Holy chorizo! It's so great, I made the aji amarillo version and I'm glad I used the extra chili, they have nice heat just like this.I stuffed up the lime/cilantro rice because all I had was jasmine rice and it didn't quite cook right but the yummyness of the chorizo made up for it.

I did really enjoy the red seitan once I got it to be a little less soft. That said, it's totally worth adding tomato paste to it. I left the cookbook at my dad's apartment for the last few months, but I got a chance to pick it up and flip through the recipes this weekend. I'm not sure what I want to make, because it all looks so appealing. I've never had a tamale or salsa verde in my life, so those might be the first on my list! I'm getting so hungry now.

I did this last night, for the green posole. I didn't have any issues, other than finding that the blended sauce wasn't thick like the recipe said it should have been. I just added one cup of veggie stock instead of two and it was fine. It should be pretty easy to judge whether or not you need to add the full amount of liquid.

I did this last night, for the green posole. I didn't have any issues, other than finding that the blended sauce wasn't thick like the recipe said it should have been. I just added one cup of veggie stock instead of two and it was fine. It should be pretty easy to judge whether or not you need to add the full amount of liquid.

This. Canned tomatillos are going to have considerably more water than fresh. And since they're already cooked essentially you can skip all the washing/cooking business.